Marketing Your Good WorksLearn how to promote your brand’s community service effortswithout coming across as crass.

It’s hardly unusual to hear about real
estate brokers who are also active
volunteers in their community. Both roles
encompass a common mission: serving
the needs of people to build a stronger
society. But is it wise to make charitable
activities a central part of your company
strategy?

When a new agent joins Jim Greene’s
brokerage in Olympia, Wash., he makes
it clear that he expects the agent to get
involved with a nonprofit or join a civic
group. Community service has been in
his business plan since the broker-owner
opened his office 11 years ago.

Brokers like Greene are proud of theirefforts, but they walk a fine line whenit comes to how they share the news oftheir charitable successes. They knowthat publicly patting themselves on theback can look self-serving and could eventurn off potential clients. So here’s theconundrum: How do you gain visibilityfor your contributions to the communitywithout appearing boastful?

Greene, who has 40 agents and five
staff members, takes steps to ensure that
his company’s philanthropic efforts don’t
come across as a ploy for business. “I’d
never brag about what we do because it’s
not about that. It’s not about, ‘Hey, look at
us; we’re the greatest.’ It’s more that we
want people to know that we care about
the community,” says Greene.

He has partnered with the CommunityFoundation of South Puget Sound toestablish the Greene Giving Fund so thatagents can donate a portion of their com-missions or make a monthly donation,which is matched by his brokerage. Morethan 90 percent of his agents participate.

A group of six agents and staff members
manages the fund, and at the end of the
year they select a range of local nonprofits to support. Greene says they target
three main causes: veterans, housing
issues, and children in need. In 2015, they
raised $17,330, which was distributed
to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston
County, the USO, Habitat for Humanity,
and Homeless Backpacks, a local nonprofit providing food for teenagers. (Read
more about NAR’s support of Boys & Girls
Clubs of America on page 18.)

Developing and maintaining a positive
public reputation comes down to consistency. At ERA King Real Estate Co. Inc.
of Anniston, Ala., broker-owner Everett
King has fostered a culture of community
service established by his father, Jack